


Rapid Responders of Roswell

by JoCarthage



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: (because we bend it), American Politics, Extremely political, Immigration & Emigration, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Rapid Responder Hotlines, but it bends towards justice, the arc of the moral universe is long, volunteering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 20:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19797316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoCarthage/pseuds/JoCarthage
Summary: Michael came back to Roswell after the election in 2016 and started volunteering with a Rapid Responder hotline. It's how he and Alex meet.IRL, this weekend is very hard, and very scary, for millions of immigrant families in the US because of the publicized Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, so this is intended as a bit of comfort food. This piece is shamelessly political, liberal, anti-Drumpf, anti-ICE, and fannish. If those aren't your things, you're probably not going to get too much out of it. If those are you things, indulge in a little bit of wish fulfillment with me before getting back to the work.





	Rapid Responders of Roswell

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is intensely focused on the 2019 American experience. Some of my favorite readers don't live here, so ymmv.
> 
> Note: There is a lot of swearing in this. Because that's how I text and how I think Michael and Alex would text. But if f-bombs aren't your thing, you probably won't like this one either.
> 
> Note 2: I have a bunch of friends who work on different hotlines and I have *never* outside of a romance novel seen anyone fall in love through them. But it's a fun trope -- just don't try to flirt with your hotline operator. She/he/they are busy ladies/gentlemen/gentlethem. You can however have fruit baskets delivered to their work places if the address is public and you will be loved in as pure and platonic a way as possible.

> **Friday, July 12th, 6:25pm**
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator (to entire group): Report of UNCONFIRMED ICE activity at:, El Charro Mexican Food, 1707 SE Main St, Roswell, NM 88203
> 
> Reply "OTW" if you can go. Do not reply if you cannot.
> 
> Alex: OTW
> 
> Alex: Eta 12 mins
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Thank you. Let us know when you get there.
> 
> Alex: Here. I don't see any other Rapid Responders. I'm going to canvass.
> 
> Alex: I did a circuit, spoke with the cashiers. They said they haven't seen anything. I did a loop in the parkinglot and didn't see any American-made, US Government plates or guys with fashy haircuts. I think this is a false-positive.
> 
> Alex: I handed-out the hotline number to the cashiers and told them it was false-positive.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator (to entire group): Thank you. Marking it as Addressed.

> **Saturday, July 13th, 2:13pm**
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator (to entire group): Report of UNCONFIRMED ICE activity at Southwest Cash & Carry, 208 E College Blvd Roswell, NM 88201
> 
> Reply "OTW" if you can go. Do not reply if you cannot.
> 
> Alex: OTW
> 
> Alex: Eta 17 mins
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Thank you, Alex. Let us know when you get there.
> 
> Alex: Here. I see another Rapid Responder.
> 
> Alex: We canvassed the neighborhood. There were a few white vans, but we checked the plates -- no US government plates, a few bumper-stickers. One was a caterer. Probably a false positive. We're going to do another round.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Thank you. Make sure to tell people it's probably a false positive -- we don't want to scare people more than they are already.
> 
> Alex: Do we have cards in Nahuatl? I met some elders who didn't speak Spanish or English and I couldn't help explain what I was doing in a way I felt good about.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: I'll get some made.
> 
> Alex: Thank you. Confirmed we don't see ICE anywhere here.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator (to entire group): The operation is over. The vans did not have US Government plates; probably personal vehicles or catering service. Thank you to everyone who came out.

> **Tuesday, July 16th, 6:13am**
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator (to entire group): Report of UNCONFIRMED ICE activity at Town & Country Food Stores, 2600 W 2nd St Roswell, NM 88201
> 
> Reply "OTW" if you can go. Do not reply if you cannot.
> 
> Alex: OTW
> 
> Alex: Eta 2 mins
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Thank you, Alex. Let me know when you get there.
> 
> Alex: I was just across the street.
> 
> Alex: I asked the vendors outside and they said the trucks left about 10 minutes ago. I asked to look at the security footage and it looks like it was ICE. We just missed them. Dammit. I'm texting you photos of their plates.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Thank you for showing up and the photos. Can you drive around the neighborhood, see if you can find which house they're going to?
> 
> Alex: Will do.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Drive safe.
> 
> Alex: Here is the map of where I've checked -- no sign of them. Dammit!
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Thank you for checking.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator (to entire group): ICE confirmed. They left the location before the Rapid Responder was able to arrive because the store took an hour to call them in. They're in the neighborhood now, so keep and eye out.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: I've got those cards printed. If you want to come by Sacred Heart to pick them up?
> 
> Alex: Yeah, sure, when works?
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: I'm here now?
> 
> Alex: Great.

> **Tuesday, July 16th, 6:45pm**
> 
> Alex: Thanks again for the cards.
> 
> Michael: No problem.
> 
> Alex: And thanks for being the operator. I don't think I could handle the stress.
> 
> Michael: We've all got to do what we can.
> 
> Alex: That's the damn truth.

> **Saturday, July 20th, 10:28am**
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator (to entire group): Report of UNCONFIRMED ICE activity at Lmexicanita Grocery, 150 Yakima Rd Dexter, NM 88230
> 
> Reply "OTW" if you can go. Do not reply if you cannot.
> 
> Alex: OTW
> 
> Alex: Eta 14 mins
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Thank you, Alex. Let me know when you get there.
> 
> Alex: Arrived.
> 
> Alex: There's a Sherrif's car here, lights on -- but they're not assisting ICE, right?
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: the County Supervisors said they couldn't spend local money assisting federal immigration raids, so no, they shouldn't be helping.
> 
> Alex: There's someone with the yellow Rapid Responder armband speaking to the Deputy -- looks like Deputy Evans. I don't think this is ICE but I'll check.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Thank you, Alex.
> 
> Alex: Confirmed, it's a domestic violence call. Someone must have seen the lights and gotten scared.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator (to entire group): The operation is over. Confirmed it was not ICE but a Sherrif's department matter. Thank you to everyone who came out.

> **Monday, July 22nd, 8:28pm**
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator (to entire group): Report of UNCONFIRMED ICE activity at Walmart Supercenter, 4500 N Main St Ste A Roswell, NM 88201
> 
> Reply "OTW" if you can go. Do not reply if you cannot.
> 
> Alex: OTW
> 
> Alex: Eta 21 mins
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Thanks, Alex. Let me know when you get there.
> 
> Alex: Arrived. There's like 10 other Rapid Responders here. God, it's nice not to be alone.
> 
> Alex: There's a bunch of vans here. I'm going to check it out.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Thank you.
> 
> Alex: They've been here for about 15 minutes. The caller is with them, said she saw a bunch of guys in tac uniforms huddling around here.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Thank you. They may be inside planning -- make sure the group goes over the protocol before they return?
> 
> Alex: On it -- we're going to cover who is arrestable, removing thumb-print access from smart phones, who will fill the six major roles. It's been a while since my training, those are: 1) video-taker who focuses on ICE, 2) note-taker who focuses on ICE, 3) video-taker documenting how ICE interacts with the Rapid Responders, 4) note-taker who takes secondary contemporaneous notes, 5) community liaison explaining what we're doing, 6) ICE liaison answering any of their questions about what we're doing.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: You've got it, Alex. A+
> 
> Alex: I aim to please.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Any update?
> 
> Alex: I'm on note-taker. They came back out -- it's definitely ICE. They're huddled behind one of their vans. One of them shouted at the video taker that she wasn't aloud to document them, but Maria DeLuca would not put up with that nonsense, she knows her First Amendment rights. 
> 
> Alex: The commander is going to talk to our ICE liaison. He doesn't look happy.
> 
> Alex: The liaison is doing a good job -- Isobel Evans is made for this. Way to use her white privilege as a shield.
> 
> Alex: They're getting in their vans. We've decided to safely follow them, three cars per van.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: Stay safe, Alex.
> 
> Alex: I'm in the passenger seat -- they're taking a long time to get wherever they're going.
> 
> Alex: We're on the highway. Here's our location.
> 
> Alex: Fuck yes! They're heading back to their Headquarters. We're going to tail them to Albuquerque to make sure they stay gone. The other passenger is making motel reservations so we're not on the road late after all this adrenaline.
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator: I'm getting off my shift in a few minutes -- I'll meet you all there.

> **Monday, July 22nd, 10:02pm**
> 
> Michael: Address?
> 
> Alex: Motel 6, 6015 Iliff Rd Nw Albuquerque, NM 87121.
> 
> Michael: Perfect. 
> 
> Alex: Want to crash with Maria and I? We've got two cots ordered to the room.
> 
> Michael: I was going to crash in my truck ... 
> 
> Alex: At least get a beer with us? I know everyone would love to meet you.
> 
> Michael: ok

> **Monday, July 29th, 4:23pm**
> 
> Alex: Pick you up after you shift?
> 
> Michael: Yes please. When will this shit end?
> 
> Alex: Yeah. But it feels better doing something than nothing at all.
> 
> Michael: Yeah. See you soon.

> **Thursday, August 15th, 12:04pm**
> 
> Alex: You up for voter registration this weekend?
> 
> Michael: Only if you're buying the mimosas after.
> 
> Alex: I've got you covered, babe.
> 
> Michael: ...'babe'?
> 
> Alex: Sorry, is 'guardian angel' better?
> 
> Michael: smdh

> **Friday, August 23rd, 11:44am**
> 
> Michael: Fuck yes!
> 
> Alex: ???
> 
> Michael: The protests fucking worked. They fucking closed the ICE office in Albuquerque. Those fuckers are going to have to drive in from fucking El Paso if they want to come and grab grandmas and papas from out of our neighborhood. Fuck. Yes.
> 
> Alex: Fuck yes is right.

> **Friday, August 30th, 8:34am**
> 
> Alex: Hey, are you going to the immigration bail charity gala tonight?
> 
> Michael: Yeah, I'm bar-tending.
> 
> Alex: Oh
> 
> Michael: Why?
> 
> Alex: I thought we -- nevermind.
> 
> Michael: "we could' what?
> 
> Alex: I was going to ask you to be my date.
> 
> Michael: Babe, I spend like 3 nights a week at your place. I don't think you have to ask me to be your date anymore.
> 
> Alex: But I wanted to! I've never seen you in a suit.
> 
> Michael: Oh, I can fix that.

> **Friday, August 30th, 6:12pm**
> 
> Alex: Hey, I'm here. Where are you?
> 
> Alex: Found you. Oh shit, Michael.
> 
> Michael: :p I told you I cleaned up well.
> 
> Alex: This is going to be longest fucking fundraiser of my fucking life. jesus christ.
> 
> Michael: XD

> **Tuesday, June 2, 3:15am**
> 
> Alex: You're bringing the booze to Isobel's Primary Night watch party, right?
> 
> Michael: Yep.
> 
> Alex: Great.

> **Tuesday, November 3rd, 10:12pm**
> 
> Alex: They've called Texas for the Dems. Where are you?
> 
> Michael: Almost there, just -- one sec.
> 
> Alex: They've called New Mexico -- bluest we've been in decades. I'm so glad we were part of that. Where are you?
> 
> Michael: Nearly there!
> 
> Alex: Fuck, the south is all red again. Fucking gerrymandering. Fucking voter suppression.
> 
> Michael: ETA 5 minutes.
> 
> Alex: Shit, even without California, I don't -- fuck Michael. You need to get here.
> 
> Michael: What? What? I'm walking in!
> 
> Alex: Trump has no path to victory! He fucking lost South Carolina, Illinois, even fucking Georgia. They'd called it early and they were *fucking wrong*. Stacy Abrams is a fucking boss. 
> 
> Alex: He FUCKING LOST.
> 
> Michael: FUCK YES.

> **Wednesday, November 4th, 9:00am**
> 
> Rapid Responder Network Operator (to entire group): You are cordially invited to Michael Guerin and Alex Manes's wedding reception at 6pm on Wednesday, January 21, 2021 (Inauguration day). All of Roswell's Rapid Responders are invited. 

**Author's Note:**

> Context: IRL I'm a Rapid Responder in my community, which means I'm a trained volunteer who gets text messages from a community-run hotline. I've gone on a dozen calls in the past year, two in the past 24 hours. 11/12 were false-positives -- but that means I get to use my white privilege to answer a call for help, to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to ICE reports, and make sure resources are going to the actual ICE raids. 
> 
> During my training to be a Rapid Responder, the trainer told us that, just in my county, over a dozen people had been able to avoid deportation because of the documentary evidence of ICE abuses and misconduct. Because of the protections the Bill of Rights gives everyone on American soil or with an American passport, if ICE violates someone's civil rights (by lying about being local police, by forcing their way into a home that has not opened the door, by attacking people) then someone may be given a permanent stay of deportation and a pathway to a visa. But only if there's someone to document what ICE did wrong. That's me; that's us.
> 
> How the hotlines work: Community members call the hotline when they think they see ICE in their neighborhood -- American-made trucks (often white), heavy tinting in the windows, paramilitary-looking guys riding in them. I get the text then I go to the location, put on my yellow arm band, take finger-print access off my phone, and, well, do exactly what Alex does in this fic. Be prepared to document. Be prepared to testify. Be prepared to get arrested (though I'd have to take-off my Rapid Responder armband off to do that since we're not allowed to directly intervene while representing the network). Be prepared to get hit, since ICE has been known to get violent. 
> 
> Like most on-the-ground activism -- like being a clinic escort like I wrote about in "redolent air // tremble and shimmer" -- it's mostly boring, showing-up-with-your-body work. But it helps keep my community safe and like being able to do something other than be scared and horrified by what is happening in America.
> 
> If you'd like to become a Rapid Responder, here's a list of the hotlines in the US:  
> \- Nationwide: https://www.nnirr.org/drupal/immigration-hotline  
> \- California: https://rapidresponse.sfbar.org/local-networks-emergency-hotlines/  
> If you'd like to donate money to getting someone out of the concentration camps at the border, you can do it here (and I have): https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/national-bond-fund  
> If you have another way to combat ICE and the concentration camps in the United States, please leave a comment. I am always looking for better ways of helping.
> 
> Note: This kind of work is not for everyone. If you're not able-bodied, if you don't have status, you have children or elders to care for, this may not be a good fit for you. But if you leave a comment or message me on tumblr (I'm jocarthage there too) and want to find a way to help, give me a bit of information about what you can do, your general area, and I'll give you some suggestions. 
> 
> This world is hard and this work is hard, so sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is continue to survive. If that's what you need to do, then take care of you.
> 
> Stay strong out there my friends.


End file.
